TIFF 2010: Gala Screenings to include Potiche, Little White Lies, Black Swan and Barney’s Version

What we do know from the list below is that along with Black Swan, we have Barney’s Version, The King’s Speech, Potiche and The Town heading to Venice. The Debt is likely to debut there as well, joining Helen Mirren in The Tempest, but for some reason I’m seeing it more as a Telluride item. Among the world premieres that will service the Toronto public well, we have a pair of buyer titles in Little White Lies and The Conspirator and we have the shot in the streets of Toronto, Casino Jack (no longer being called Bagman). Among the off the radar selections, I’d say not many were expecting Emilio Estevez’s The Way, Barry Blaustein’s Peep World, David M. Rosenthal’s Janie Jones.

The Bang Bang Club Steven Silver, Canada/South Africa World Premiere
The Bang Bang Club was the name given to four young photographers, Greg Marinovich, Kevin Carter, Ken
Oosterbroek and Joao Silva, whose photographs captured the final bloody days of white rule in South Africa and the
final demise of apartheid. The film tells the remarkable and sometimes harrowing story of these young men – and
the extraordinary extremes they went to in order to capture their pictures. The film stars Ryan Phillippe, Malin
Akerman, Taylor Kitsch, Neels Van Jaarsveld and Frank Rautenbach.

Barney’s Version Richard J. Lewis, Canada/Italy North American Premiere
From producer Robert Lantos, Barney’s Version is a film based on Mordecai Richler’s prize-winning comic novel.
Barney Panofsky (Paul Giamatti) is a seemingly ordinary man who lives an extraordinary life. Barney‟s candid
confessional spans four decades and two continents, and includes three wives (Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver and
Rachelle Lefevre), one outrageous father (Dustin Hoffman) and a charmingly dissolute best friend (Scott
Speedman).

Black Swan Darren Aronofsky, USA North American Premiere
A psychological thriller set in the world of New York City ballet, Black Swan stars Natalie Portman as Nina, a featured
dancer who finds herself locked in a web of competitive intrigue with a new rival at the company. Black Swan takes a
thrilling and at times terrifying journey through the psyche of a young ballerina whose starring role as the duplicitous
swan queen turns out to be a part for which she becomes frighteningly perfect. Black Swan also stars Vincent
Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey and Winona Ryder.

Casino Jack George Hickenlooper, Canada World Premiere
Based on a true story, Kevin Spacey stars as Jack Abramoff, the former high-powered lobbyist whose bribery
schemes and fraudulent dealings with Indian casinos ultimately landed him in prison, and stunned the world. It
remains the biggest scandal to hit Washington, D.C. since Watergate. The film also stars Barry Pepper, Kelly
Preston, Rachelle Lefevre and Jon Lovitz.

The Conspirator Robert Redford, USA World Premiere
While an angry nation seeks vengeance, a young union war hero must defend a mother accused of aiding her son in
the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Directed by Robert Redford, the film stars James McAvoy, Robin
Wright, Kevin Kline, Evan Rachel Wood and Tom Wilkinson.

The Debt John Madden, USA North American Premiere
Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain and Sam Worthington star in this thriller about three Israeli Mossad agents on a 1965
mission to capture a notorious Nazi war criminal. Thirty years later, secrets about the case emerge.

The Housemaid Im Sang-Soo, South Korea North American Premiere
In this erotic thriller, the housemaid of an upper-class family becomes entangled in a dangerous tryst. A satirical look
at class structure, reminiscent of the work of Claude Chabrol, this sexy soap opera is a story of revenge and
retribution.

Janie Jones David M. Rosenthal, USA World Premiere
Aspiring recording artist Ethan Brand gets a stunning surprise on the opening night of a tour – a strung out former
groupie appears unexpectedly, pleading with him to care for their daughter while she pulls herself together. Enter
Janie Jones.

The King’s Speech Tom Hooper, United Kingdom/Australia North American Premiere
The King’s Speech tells the story of the man who would become King George VI, the father of the current Queen,
Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George „Bertie‟ VI (Colin Firth) reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by
a dreaded nervous stammer and considered unfit to be King, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech
therapist named Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an
unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country into war.

Little White Lies Guillaume Canet, France World Premiere
Despite a traumatic event, a group of friends decides to go ahead with their annual beach vacation. Their
relationships, convictions, sense of guilt and friendship are sorely tested. They are finally forced to own up to the little
white lies they have been telling each other. Directed by Guillaume Canet and starring: François Cluzet, Marion
Cotillard, Benoît Magimel, Gilles Lellouche, Jean Dujardin, Laurent Lafitte, Valérie Bonneton and Pascale Arbillot.

Peep World Barry Blaustein, USA World Premiere
On the day of their father‟s 70th birthday party, four siblings come to terms with the publication of a novel written by
the youngest sibling that exposes the family‟s most intimate secrets.

Potiche François Ozon, France North American Premiere
A bourgeois housewife (Catherine Deneuve) takes on a rough union leader (Gerard Depardieu) in François Ozon’s
sparkling comic war between the sexes, and the classes.

The Town Ben Affleck, USA North American Premiere
The Town is a dramatic thriller about robbers and cops, friendship and betrayal, love and hope, and escaping a past
that has no future. In the Boston neighbourhood of Charlestown, Doug MacCray is the leader of a crew of ruthless
bank robbers. But everything changed on the gang‟s last job when they took bank manager Claire Keesey hostage.
Questioning what she saw, Doug seeks out Claire. As their relationship deepens, Doug wants out of this life and the
town, but now he must choose whether to betray his friends or lose the woman he loves.

The Way Emilio Estevez, USA World Premiere
Martin Sheen plays Tom, an American doctor who comes to St. Jean Pied de Port, France to collect the remains of
his adult son, killed in the Pyrenees in a storm while walking The Camino de Santiago. Driven by his profound
sadness and desire to understand his son better, Tom decides to embark on the historical pilgrimage. Along the way
he learns what it means to be a citizen of the world again and discovers the difference between “The life we live and
the life we choose.”

West is West Andy De Emmony, United Kingdom World Premiere
Manchester, Northern England, 1976. The now much-diminished, but still claustrophobic and dysfunctional, Khan
family continues to struggle for survival. Sajid, the youngest Khan, is under heavy assault both from his father’s
tyrannical insistence on Pakistani tradition, and from the fierce bullies in the schoolyard. His father decides to pack
him off to Mrs. Khan No 1 and family in the Punjab, the wife and daughters he had abandoned 30 years earlier. The
sequel to East is East, West is West is the coming of age story of both 15-year-old Sajid and of his father, 60-year-
old George Khan.

Mysteries of Lisbon Raul Ruiz, Portugal/France World Premiere (Masters Program)
Based on a famous nineteenth-century Portuguese novel, Raul Ruiz’s Mysteries of Lisbon follows a jealous
countess, a wealthy businessman and a young orphaned boy across Portugal, France, Italy and Brazil where they
connect with a variety of mysterious individuals.